ARS Research Team Boost Alfalfa's Salt Tolerance

Researchers at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) led by geneticist Devinder Sandhu are addressing salinity by developing salt-tolerant crops, starting with alfalfa, a key forage crop for dairy farming and soil improvement.

Sandhu's team began with 2,700 alfalfa lines, narrowing the selection to 12 with superior performance. Two lines stood out, tolerating salinity equivalent to one-third seawater. Combining their traits, the researchers created a new alfalfa line that performed well even with real seawater tests. The researchers tested the resulting new alfalfa lines using real seawater from the Pacific Ocean, and they demonstrated the ability to survive – a result that impressed and astonished colleagues in the field.

Beyond alfalfa, Sandhu's research on salt tolerance has broader implications. Crops like wheat, maize, tomatoes, and strawberries could benefit from similar mechanisms. “The basic mechanisms of salt tolerance are often conserved across plant species,” Sandhu said, emphasizing cross-species potential.

For more details, read the article in ARS News.